Tag Archives: mainstrem media

Thanks to Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian American writer based in Ramallah, for lifting the veil from the mainstream media’s reporting on Palestine. Her piece in Al Jazeera (Dec. 30, 2017) is a must read for anyone who cares to understand the context behind the “news” and how the mainstream media can get so much, so wrong!

I like to think that I’ve become a more critical consumer of the news media since living in Gaza (2012-2013). I admit I was certainly fooled for many years, or perhaps just a lazy news consumer who had no reason to question the “accepted” narrative.

WHY? Why is the mainstream media invested in perpetuating the colonial narrative in the Israel – Palestine story rather than standing back and providing a deeper, richer context?

Some believe in the conspiracy theory, that the Jews control the media and so the narrative of the Middle East is naturally designed to suit their interests. Hogwash! I’ve heard this old canard repeated by nuts and also by people who should know better. While there may be some Zionists in high positions who are able to exert editorial control, the notion that Jews control the mainstream media is a broken record and should be resoundingly rejected once and for all. Read this piece from 1996 in FAIR to understand how this conspiracy theory got started.

I tend to think that the mainstream media is simply stuck in its own cocoon of ignorance. Too many generations of western journalists have grown up inside the colonial narrative which says that Israel is fighting for its very existence surrounded by hostile neighbors. If that skewed notion forms the bedrock of their understanding of current events, then we shouldn’t be surprised with the mainstream media’s version of events.

Maybe western journalists need to be acculturated into narratives other than their own. I’m not suggesting that they adopt wholesale the narrative propounded by the Palestinians; that would be just as unprofessional as the dilemma they face today. But they must be made aware of narratives that challenge the dominant narrative.

What purpose? For what purpose does the dominant colonial narrative about Israel – Palestine seem to stick despite abundant contradictory evidence?

Here’s where I tend to believe in a conspiracy theory. Israel has been the U.S. protectorate since before David Ben-Gurion, the head of the World Zionist Organization, declared the independence of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. The U.S. was the first country to recognize Israel minutes later. The state of Israel has benefitted from U.S. largesse both in terms of money and protection from international condemnation at the United Nations.

The state of Israel has also benefitted from the U.S. government’s refusal to investigate or hold it accountable for its misdeeds. If Americans only knew how tight the U.S. government and the government of Israel really are, we might question those in power. As it currently stands, there’s very little questioning and a great deal of genuflecting when Israeli leaders call Washington.

For who? Certainly, the fallacious facade of the U.S. as a neutral mediator for peace in the Middle East has been stripped away once and for all. Perhaps then-Secretary John Kerry was the last to believe he could carry such a mantle in 2013. Many of us knew years earlier which side the U.S. was beholden to.

The mainstream media’s dominant narrative serves one side, and one side only. It’s time for professional journalists and their editors to come to that realization. When Israel’s hasbara permeates our news diet so thoroughly and without question, we all suffer, and the media’s credibility suffers just as much as when Donald Trump yells “fake news”.